10-12/A Blog: Universal Themes

Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring is, in the broadest terms, about the pioneering spirit in America. I chose to answer the following questions in this blog as required.

1. In your opinion, why does a story about pioneering spirit have universal appeal?

In Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring, it was about the pioneering spirit in America and it is universal because every artist, visionary, etc. have to have that pioneering spirit to create or perform their work. This spirit is what everyone who ventures into a new path or direction uses every time they try something new. It is what helps drive us to succeed when doing something new. This story relates universally for that reason. It is the adventurer in all of us that is attracted to such a story.

2. What is another work of art (visual art, music, movie, book, theatre, dance) that expresses a similar concern or theme? Discuss both parts of this question a blog post and support with details.

Star Trek the series is has its entire bases is on "going where no one has gone before". It is the pioneering spirit along with a scientific curiosity that becomes the driving force for the show and their Starship Enterprise's journey. Science is about new discoveries and art is about creating new expressions both require a pioneering spirit to achieve the unknown.  In fact, growing up and finding your way in the world requires a little bit of this pioneering spirit as well. That spirit is what the Star Trek series represents.

U12-Dance-A3-Blog Collaborative Skills

Merce Cunningham has a dance company and Robert Rauschenberg is an artist costume designer. Both of these men should be professionals and as long as they are clear on what each needs from each other to work together then there should not be a problem The dance company needs costumes and the costume designer should be able to design them to the dance companies specifications. Otherwise, if the two cannot respect each other enough to work together then they should not. I would be a good collaborator especially if I had a business that pertained to a potential client then I would try to meet their expectations to deliver what they need from my business. If Robert Rauschenberg as an artist needed only to do his vision for his work then he would not be very good at meeting what the client's vision is and how in this case it would relate to the dance that Merce Cunningham Dance Company designed. It is not personal it's business.

U12-Music-A5 Blog-CPR

The internet and digital players have made it easier to have a variety of music at your fingertips such as Mp3 players or from your computer touch pad, etc. I finally heard Ma Rainey a few days ago on the internet for the first time. I never knew she existed and without the internet and technology, I could have never heard her performance or be able to respond to her blues music. There also is software that can help someone design a song from musical notes they choose even if they do not quite understand what they are writing. That type of technology could open more people to song writing or composing. I have played with some of this type of software and it was exciting to create my own piece of music. The internet gives every artist whether they are popular, oldies, traditional, etc. a chance to be heard by new younger audiences. It keeps their music alive and makes it a part of the vast knowledge known as the internet.

U11-Dance-A3-Discovery Journal Kentuckians in Dance

Harina Churn-Diallo

African Dancer/Artistic Director

Imani Dance and Drum Company Louisville, Kentucky

 

Harina Churn-Diallo grew-up in Louisville, Kentucky. She lived in Park Hill housing project and studied dance. She attended college at the University of Louisville and has degrees in Pan-African studies as well as cultural anthropology. She has studied and performed all around the world in places like Paris, Japan, and Africa. She is an African dance performer and teacher of tap, ballet, clog, Native American, salsa, jazz, and belly dancing. She has choreographed theatre in Louisville and Chicago. She teaches African Dance at University of Louisville. Harina and her husband Yaya Diallo (a world renowned African drumming expert) own the Imani Dance and Drum Company where they teach dance and drumming. She decide to come back to Louisville after traveling and performing world-wide because she recognized the importance of teaching self-confidence and self-worth to African-American children and adults as well as helping others to have a greater appreciation and respect for the polyrhythmic sounds of Africa and the African culture.  In fact, Harina made this statement which basically describes her mission in life “Get a passport and travel the world, so you can bring to your dance company a world base, not this little-bitty myopic view about culture. Music has been a tool of communication for thousands of years. You don't have to be the best dancer in the world. You have to be able to give to your students this knowledge that you have that makes them want to get more knowledge, to understand that their bodies are works in progress. You add sound and props to help give light to your dancers. We're like the light bulb as artistic director. How you get there is on the dancers themselves.”

U11-Dance-A2-Blog Dance Experiments

For this dance experiment, I walk in time to the music and I moved my arm to the music. At first, it seemed ok but after I got into the music it was fun and somewhat easy at first but became a little harder for the full length of the song. I became very determined to continue until song end. It was a little odd to only be moving one body part but it was still fun. Dancing one move is kind of hard and isolating one body part is strange if you like to dance freeform. It does take a lot of strength and skill to perform dance for hours as the professional do it. I applaud their strength, dedication and talent.

U11-Music-A2-Blog Review a Work

One of my favorite songs and videos is Michael Jackson's "Thriller". "Thriller" was written by Rod Temperton and produced by Quincy Jones. The song originally was called Starlight instead of "Thriller". Once it was changed to "Thriller" then Vincent Price had a speaking part that was also added. That made the song even more thrilling since Vincent was in so many scary old movies. This pop song is great but when the visual video is added then the song just comes to life. It has a fast heart pounding tempo with a collaborative dynamics and form that really set it apart from other modern music compositions. It is truly a musical work of art. It is still popular today and I think it will be popular for some time to come.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(album)

U10-VisArt-A2-Blog-O'Keefe's 'Red, White, and Blue'

In Georgia O'Keefe's 1931 painting Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue, she gives a good sense of balance with the solid red side borders which transition to the white to blue sections on each side of the cow's skull that was sun bleached white. The skull itself with its eye sockets, horns, and other parts of the skull seems to take you away from the fact that this is a skull of a dead cow. It gives it an almost lifelike quality. The way the red, white, and blue sections are designed using space, color, and shape it gives the skull an almost 3-D quality which brings it off the canvas. These elements along with the contrast created by her design, and her use of variety to give the skull more life makes this painting very unique and intriguing to see.